A major police operation is under way in southern Greece to try to find a team of burglars who stole one of the country's leading religious icons. The icon of the Virgin Mary, at the monastery of Elona, symbolised Greek freedom during a 19th Century campaign to expel the Turkish Ottoman empire. Police are working on the theory that the thieves hid inside the monastery when it closed to the public. They are then thought to have been lowered by rope into the sanctuary. People living near the cliff-side monastery believe the icon possessed miraculous powers. Normally, a replica of the 700-year-old icon is exhibited at the monastery of Elona, which is built into the side of a sheer cliff. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

A man suspected of involvement in a 13-year wave of rapes and killings in a Mexican town that left more than 300 women dead has been detained in the US. Edgar Alvarez Cruz was arrested for alleged immigration violations in Colorado and faces extradition. The US embassy said he may have been part of a gang involved in the case. The women were abducted, often sexually assaulted or raped and then murdered in Ciudad Juarez on the Texan border. Many bodies were dumped in the desert. The US Ambassador to Mexico, Tony Garza, said it was a major breakthrough in the case. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5265448.stm

Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to U.N. member states to provide desperately needed U.N. peacekeeping troops for Lebanon and assured them the U.N. force would not "wage war" on Israel, Lebanon, or Hezbollah militants. "It is not expected to achieve by force what must be realized through negotiation and an internal Lebanese consensus," Annan said in a report to the U.N. Security Council on implementation of the Aug. 11 resolution calling for an end to the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict. A key concern of many countries is whether the U.N. force will be called on to disarm Hezbollah fighters, as called for in a September 2004 U.N. resolution. They want to study the rules of engagement and concept of operations for the force, which were distributed Friday, before making a decision on troops. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said countries needed to understand that the force wouldn't be offensive. "It's not going to go in there and attempt large-scale disarmament," he said...http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2332386

Israeli special forces operated deep in Lebanon early Saturday, the army confirmed, making it the broadest violation of a five-day-old U.N.-brokered cease-fire. The army said its commandos entered Lebanon "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah." The army said the force completed its mission successfully, and that such operations would be carried out until a multinational force is in place to prevent Hezbollah's rearmament. The cease-fire put an end to 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted July 12 after the guerrilla group captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three others in a cross-border raid. Hezbollah said its guerrillas foiled the commando raid, west of their stronghold of Baalbek deep inside Lebanon, sparking a gunbattle that left Israeli casualties. The army refused to confirm any casualties. ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14420157/

Margie Black had wanted to enter the military as a teenager, but having her first child at 19 put off her ambitions.So when she learned the Army raised its enlistment age, Black, now a 41-year-old grandmother from West Columbia, Texas, didn't hesitate to join. The decision took "about 30 seconds," she said.On Friday, Pvt. Black worked on her marksmanship skills here, while her 21-year-old daughter was at Army basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo."I'm taking it one day at a time," Black said. "If I do that, I can handle it."Older soldiers like her are showing up more often at Army training bases across the country since Congress gave the service approval earlier this year to raise its enlistee age limit, which had been 35, to just under 42 years....http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-19-older-recruits_x.htm?csp=34

Two weeks ago, two producers working for Fox News in Amman, Jordan resigned in protest of the network's coverage. In their resignation letter, Serene Sabbagh and Jomana Karadsheh wrote "We can no longer work with a news organization that claims to be fair and balanced when you are so far from that." We go to Amman to speak with producer Serene Sabbagh. [includes rush transcript] As the ceasefire in Lebanon enters its third day, the Middle East crisis continues to be one of the top news stories in the US press. But the coverage of the conflict in the corporate media has come under criticism from some quarters. Two weeks ago, two producers working for Fox News in Amman Jordan resigned in protest of the network's coverage. In their resignation letter, Serene Sabbagh and Jomana Karadsheh wrote "We can no longer work with a news organization that claims to be fair and balanced when you are so far from that." They went on to write "Not only are you an ...http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/16/148232